Ice tray grid



March 9, 1954 J. M. KISSELLE ICE TRAY GRID Filed July 29, 1948 ATTOR/V'VS Patented Mar. 9, 1954 ICE TRAY GRID John M. Kisselle, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Copeman Laboratories Company, Flint, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application July 29, 1948, Serial No. 41,283

7 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved ice tray grid such as are used in domestic and commercial refrigerators for freezing ice cubes.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Serial No. 661,266, filed April 11, 1946, now abandoned.

.In my patent, Reissue No. 20,693, dated April 12, 1938, there is disclosed an ice tray and grid combination wherein the grid is formed of a plurality of transverse wall sections flexibly connected together by hinging means to form a continuous ribbon-like construction extending longitudinally of the tray. Such a construction greatly facilitates the removal of ice from the tray in that the adjacent wall sections are movable about a fulcrum and relative to the walls of the tray.

It is an object of the present invention to improve the grid construction there disclosed so as to further facilitate removal of ice cubes and, in addition, to make it easier to restore the grid to position in the tray after the ice cubes have been removed. With previous constructions, the many hinged joints in the ribbon-like grid provide an extremely flexible grid which may readily swing far out from its normal contour and make it dinicult to position properly in the empty ice tray without manipulation of the separate wall sections to secure their proper placement in the tray.

Furthermore, such a grid is not capable of supporting itself in place when held in the hand by one end thereof, the many hinged joints permitting the grid to flex downwardly and hang loosely from the end supported in the hand. The action in this respect is much like that of an accordion in that there is a total lack of rigidity to the structure except when it is properly supported in the tray. These diiiiculties are overcome in the present invention by arranging the pivotal connections between adjacent wall sections so as to limit their angle of movement away from each other to substantially the angle of their normal repose in the tray. This construction, furthermore, facilitates the removal of ice cubes since the hinged joint permits the adjacent wall sections to move only toward each other and because of the inclined position of the walls, the

V shaped ice cube formed between them may be squeezed out from between the walls by a closing movement of the hinged joint.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an ice tray and grid embodying a preferred form of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a cross section on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of w the grid shown in inverted position and illustrating the details of the pivotal connection.

Referring now to Figure 1, there is shown a rectangular ice tray in having the usual bottom,-

sidesand walls for containing a quantity of- (Cl. Gil-108.5)

water or other material to be frozen. Removably positioned within the tray I0 is a grid generally designated l2. Grid I2 is made up of a plurality of alternately inclined transversely extending wall sections 54, l6, l8 and 20.

zontal tongue 22 providing a ready means by which the grid may be grasped in the hand. Each of the adjacent wall sections is pivoted to an adjacent section along their bottom edges by any suitable pivotal joint such as the piano hinge illustrated at 24. The top edges of the wall sections are integrally joined by a V bend indicated at 26. The grid thus provides partition means which form alternately facing ice cube spaces which are in the shape of triangular prisms.

The hinge connection 24 is illustrated in more detail in Figure 3 which shows the grid turned upside down. Thus the wall section [6 is provided with a plurality of cylindrical cars 28 and the wall section [8 is provided with similar ears 3!). The cars are arranged in the usual staggered relation to fit between each other as illustrated. In order to limit the opening movement of the hinge, that is, tending to open the V between the sections l6 and Hi, there is provided abutment means such as the integrally formed stops 32 and 34 at each end of the hinge section which are positioned above the pivot pin 35.

The grids embodying the present invention may be constructed of any substantially rigid material. should be inflexible to the extent that it Will not be deformed after continued use. Present day grids are usually constructed from heat treated aluminum sheet material having a thickness in the neighborhood of thirty to thirty-five thousandths of an inch, and accordingly the grid of this invention may be constructed of a material substantially thicker and more rigid than present day grids, and as a matter of fact, a grid embodying the present invention has been constructed from sheet brass, chromium plated. having a thickness of fifty-four thousandths of an inch and has operated very successfully.

There have been proposed at least two theories concerning the exact manner in which grids of this type operate to eject cubes. One theory is that by bending the grid walls a progressive peeling action occurs between the surface of the ice cube and the walls of the grid which produces a complete separation of the ice block from the grid walls. Another theory is that by bodily moving one grid wall toward the other the ice block is subjected to a shearing stress V have found that by making the grid wallssubstantially rigid, as defined above, the grid op- The sections l4 and 20 may have a protruding hori-- By rigid I mean that the material erates successfully in ejecting the cubes from the tray.

In operation, it will be seen that when the grid I2 is positioned in the tray and the tray filled with water, the prismatic compartments between adjacent walls of the grid will form triangular shaped ice cubes. When it is desired to remove or eject the upper row of cubes from the tray and the grid, the operator places the tray on a solid surface and with one hand lifts upwardly on one of the end tongues 22 while holding the tray down with the other hand. Since the walls of the tray are bodily movable relative to each other, the cubes will be loosened from the grid walls progressively along the tray starting at the compartment adjacent the end tongue to which the upward force is applied.

Whether the separation of the ice cubes from the grid walls is efiected by a shearing action or a peeling action is not considered important. By progressively bending the grid element in this manner the V shaped spaces above the grid partition tend to close and the cubes therein will be squeezed upwardly and bodily moved up the inclined plane of the grid walls. In this manner all the tubes above the grid partition may be removed or, if desired only one or two cubes may be loosened from the grid walls. The eflicacy of this squeezing action will depend to some extent upon the normal angle included between the wall sections which, of course, may be varied by providing more or fewer prismatic spaces in the tray of given length. The cubes remaining in the tray may be separated therefrom by diagonally twisting the body of the tray.

When it is desired to replace the grid in the tray, or in fact at any time it is being handled. it may be readily grasped by one Or the other tongues 22. When so supported in the hand, the abutment means 32 and 3.4 prevent the grid as a whole bending downwardly and cause it to remain in substantially the same shape as. shown on the drawing. In other words, the natural effect of gravity tends to keep the grid. in its normal shape and conformation exactly the same as it would lie in the tray. Thus the grid may be readily placed in the tray without the necessity of. individually manipulating any of the wall sections which may have. become collapsed in previous constructionss What I claim is:-

1. An ice tray partition unit comprising a plurality of wall sections, each adapted toextend transversely of the tray, each wall section being pivotally connected to an adjacent section along itsv bottom edge and rigidly joined to another adjacent section along its. top edge toform a continuous. ribbon-like partitionv unit which when inserted. in a. tray adapted to extend longitudinally of the tray with the wall sections alternately inclined in zigzag. fashion, the pivotal. connections having, abutment means. to limit the. pivotal movement of adjacent sections away from each other substantially beyond the angle. oi" normal repose in the tray.

2., An ice tray partition unit comprising a plurality of wall sections, each adapted to extend. transversely of the tray and. inclined alternately forwardly and rearwardly to. form triangular ice. cube spaces, each wall section being pivotally connected tov an adjacent section. along its bottorn edge and rigidly joined to another adjacent section along its top edge. and means associated with. the. pivotal connections for preventingpi-.v-

otal movement of the adjacent. pivotally con.

4 nected wall sections in a direction away from each other substantially beyond the angle of normal repose when in the tray.

3. An ice tray partition unit comprising a plurality of wall sections, each adapted to extend transversely of the tray and inclined alternately forwardly and. rearwardly to form triangular ice cube spaces, each wall section being pivotally connected to an adjacent section along its bottom edge and rigidly joined to another adjacent section along its top edge, and abutment means preventing pivoting movement of adjacent sections away from each other substantially beyond the angle, of normal repose in the tray whereby when said unit is supported as a cantilever at one end, the wall sections assume substantially the same position as they do when supported in a, tray.

4. An ice tray partition unit comprising a plurality of forwardly and rearwardly inclined wall sections adapted to extend transversely of. the tray, means connecting each section to an adjacent section along its bottom edge for pivotal movement, and abutment means preventing pivoting movement of adjacent sections away from each other substantially beyond the angle of normal repose in the tray whereby when said unit is supported as a cantilever at one end, the wall sections assume substantially the same position s they do when supported in the tray.

5. A partition unit for a sharp freezing container comprising a plurality of sections of rig d sheet connected together to form, nested oppositely facing triangular prismatic spaces extending horizontally, said sections being pivoted together along at least their bottom edges, and means rigidly preventing flexure of the partition when out of the tray in a direction tending to open the triangular spaces above the partition substantially beyond their normal size as determined by their size when the unit is in its container.

6'. An ice tray partition unit comprising a plurality of substantially inflexible wall sections,

a each adapted to extend transversely of the tray tional ribbon of'rigi'd sheet adapted to extend the length of the tray, the adjacent sections of said ribbon being oppositely inclined to provide triangular prism spaces extending transversely above and below the ribbon when inserted in the tray, said ribbon having hinge means between adjacent sections at their lower edges and means cooperating with said hinge means to render the tray partition unit self-supporting against downward collapse or extension when supported as a cantilever atone end.

JOHN M. KISSELLE.

References Cited in the die of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date: Re. 20,693- Kissel-le Apr. 12, 1938 460,589 Lowe-1 Oct.. 6, I891 2,(l28=, 04l Cole June 19,: 1936: 2,466,745 siebigiiBl'llthz Ap 12 1943 

